Barcelona March 1, 2015 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. today announced an innovation in the field of mobile payments. Service Samsung Pay embodies a new era of mobile payments and e-commerce. It allows consumers to switch to secure mobile payment method at almost all points of sale.
Unlike mobile wallets, which are only accepted by a small number of merchants via so-called magstripe terminals, Samsung Pay users will be able to use their mobile devices when paying at existing terminals at points of sale. To achieve this goal, Samsung uses not only NFC technology (Near Field Communication), but also a new patented technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST). This will make mobile payments more accessible to both consumers and merchants.
To provide its customers with a best-in-class mobile payment solution, Samsung has partnered with major electronic payment providers MasterCard a Visa. At the same time, it strengthens cooperation with key financial partners around the world, including American Express, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase a US Bank, to provide greater flexibility, accessibility and choice for customers while enabling a simple and secure way to pay.
“Samsung Pay will transform the way people pay for goods and services and use their smartphones. The secure and simple payment process, together with our extensive partner network, makes Samsung Pay a game-changing service that brings added value to consumers and our partners.” said JK Shin, Managing Director and Head of IT & Mobile Communications at Samsung Eelectronics.
“The area of Mobile Commerce is now becoming much more interesting. Combining Visa's expertise in payment technology with Samsung's leadership in creating innovative mobile experiences gives financial institutions more options to enable their customers to pay by phone.” Jim Mc saidCarthy, Executive Vice President of Visa Inc.
“We are committed to making interactions in our customers' financial lives easier. Samsung Pay is another important step in this direction for our 17 million mobile customers.” said Brian Moynihan, chief executive officer and chairman of Bank of America.
Extensive coverage
Samsung Pay should be accepted at approx 30 million points of sale worldwide, making it the only mobile payment solution with almost universal application. Samsung offers this option thanks to its groundbreaking Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology. Consumers will thus be able to use Samsung Pay in stores regardless of whether the payment terminals support NFC or traditional magstripe, which is the vast majority of existing terminals.
In addition, MST technology supports private label credit cards (PLCC) thanks to cooperation with key partners including companies Synchrony Financial a First Data. The involvement of merchants, banks and major payment networks offers customers the opportunity to use a wide range of payment cards. This fact makes Samsung Pay a real one universal mobile payment solution.
Margaret Keane, president and CEO of Synchrony Financial, the largest PLCC provider in the US, said: “This is great news for our customers who can use their card to pay with Samsung Pay. At the same time, this is also great news for our merchants, who will not have to upgrade their sales terminals. We look forward to working with Samsung and others to provide secure mobile payments to our 60 million active accounts.”
Simple and fast
With Samsung Pay, consumers get a simple app that's easy to use. Adding a card requires just a few simple steps. Once added, the user activates the Samsung Pay app by pulling up the menu bar on the device. He selects the desired payment card and proves his identity through the fingerprint sensor. By holding the device to the terminal at the point of sale, it will then make a quick, safe and easy payment.
Secure and private
Samsung is firmly committed to promoting the security and privacy of user data to the highest industry standards. Samsung Pay does not store personal account numbers on the consumer's device. In addition, Samsung Pay provides many security features that make it more protected than physical payment cards. In combination with tokenization, i.e. by rewriting sensitive data from the card to a unique secure token that prevents financial fraud, Samsung Pay will mediate secure mobile payments around the world.
“We are excited to work with Samsung to bring Samsung Pay to consumers around the world. The security and simplicity we are able to deliver through our digital service is rapidly changing the way consumers can shop. The launch of Samsung Pay will further boost mobile payments and provide a wider range of digital experiences.” said Ed McLaughlin, head of emerging payments at MasterCard.
The security of payments through Samsung Pay is enhanced by the mobile security platform S a ARM TrustZone, which protects informace about the transaction against fraud and data attacks. In addition, in case of loss of the phone, a special feature of Samsung called Find My Mobile locate a mobile device, lock it, and even wipe data from the device remotely. This ensures that data from Samsung Pay cannot be compromised at all.
Samsung Pay will be available first in the US and Korea this summer, before expanding to other markets including Europe and China, along with Samsung devices GALAXY S6 to GALAXY S6 edge.
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